Choosing a great location requires a lot of effort and common sense. The first thing to consider is the focus or concept of your particular business. Coffee is a luxury item purchased usually as habit, comfort, and sometimes on impulse. So you first you want to be highly visible, preferably where large numbers of people are going past your location on a regular basis.
The speciality coffee business is a convenience business.
My slogan is: Premium Beverages ~~ Convenient Service
Initially, if it is convenient for your customer to find you, there is a greater chance they will try you. When customers are looking for a great BBQ joint they might hunt down the hole in the wall. But it is difficult to establish a start up business, in a hole in the wall location. Even if the lease price seems right.
Being patient locating the place of your new business will be key. Location is also one of the easiest ways to ensure statistical success. For example: in a college town at the beginning of the coffee craze a man opened a small drive -thru kiosk. It was the first such kind of business in the area. He was on one of the busiest roads in the town with a large open area around the kiosk ( easy in, easy out). Sounds like a gold mine? Hardly! The kiosk was a temporary trailer similar to what you would find at a carnival. He was on a large gravel area that had been an unsuccessful used car lot and a couple other random businesses. He had a utility pole with a wire going to the trailer for his utilities. He did not open or close at the times he had posted as his operational hours.
He was a large, unkempt man and would sit outside the trailer “to get out ” of his 6 x 6 business. Passing by, you would see him more often outside his business than inside his business. When you saw this man you did not think he looked professional. The trailer with a wire powering the trailer looked temporary. The kiosk trailer was to far away from the road & the gravel was dusty and hard on the vehicles getting to this kiosk. And the tiny size of the trailer made you wonder about the sanitation. Consumer doubts of his quality were reconfirmed by his LOCATION by the physical condition of the owner, his lack of attention to detail & his attitude. He looked like he was in it for a quick buck. And shortly after he opened, he closed. He unhooked his power, and hauled his coffee business off one night.
But before you even got close enough to experience the details of his business, the set up of his LOCATION put the customers off.